Demolishing old homes is rampant in Brisbane at the moment, or so it seems as I drive through streets in my suburb. I keep noticing little old homes being flattened and new ones popping up in their place within a matter of months.
While I know we can’t hold onto the past forever, there is often an opportunity that goes unlooked – the chance to modernise old homes and use them as a canvas for the bigger and better home that everyone seems to be in search of.
Not only could this be a more cost effective way to get a ‘new’ home, it is also has a great benefit for the environment, by reducing the amount of building waste that would normally end up in landfill from a demolition.
Modernising an old Brisbane home with DS Architecture
Recently, I have been chatting with the team at DS Architecture, who were keen to show me some of the work they do when it comes to modernising an older home.
Dion Seminara and his team have been working on Brisbane homes for 20 years and has a huge portfolio of homes, both new builds and renovations.
For this project in Carina Heights, the client was hoping to expand and modernise their family home of many years. The result is a very dramatic facelift, as you can see from the tiny ‘before’ photo in this picture!
The renovation itself took four months to complete and consisted of reconstruction and expansion of the existing back deck and reconstruction of the first floor deck at the rear of the property.
What was the brief for this project?
The brief for this project was to relocate the house which we have now renovated on this site from the neighbouring block. At the front of the site our brief was to add new street appeal , this was achieved through the inclusion of steel trimmed carport structure and fencing including new gatehouse, entry path, fencing and garden space. To the rear of the house the existing deck was expanded and renovated substantially and gardens add Internally bathrooms were renovated.
How has the home changed the day to day life or lifestyle of your client?
The renovated home as brought family together with a larger deck and private garden to the rear. The street always had parking issues so the new car parking arrangement has allowed 4 cars to be accommodated onsite, which is excellent for the home owner alone.
What do you view as the best feature of the home?
The main feature of this home the new enhanced style to a plain 1950’s style home so street appeal enhancements are the biggest feature.
What was the biggest challenge in the design/build of this project?
The biggest change was in fact getting a high grade finish to the steel used out the front of this existing house. A product called Jotun was used which is a high build epoxy paint and this requires very controlled environment for it to be applied. It took quite an effort to get a good result
Tell us a bit about your background and what you enjoy about designing Brisbane homes? We have been designing and renovating homes for individual client for over 23 years so working with client to ensure we know what they want is an essential component of our service delivery process and it appears we have been successful in this area.
We love to transform homes particularly ugly duckling giving these homes new life. We believe our process to achieve these outcomes is of great value to our clients. We also offer our client bespoke design services, quality and professionalism culminating in designs which enhancing our clients lives.
Modernising an old Brisbane home in Carina Heights by DSArchitecture
I love hearing that the family have enjoyed positive changes to their life from the renovation of their home. After all, that’s what turning a house into a home should be all about.
